In A New Light
by Haayls
Summary: Blindly following Lord Zane's orders, Coco tries to convince Mikey to give up his fascination with humans. However, Mikey thinks he can persuade his friend to think differently.


Seated in a cushion of leaves, pressing his back against the thick trunk of a tall deciduous tree, Mikey licked the tip of his thumb and turned the page of a book titled, "Banquet for the Soul: A History of Music". Genius had given him that book to barter for bits of information about the elves' lifestyle and culture. He had many other books and trinkets from Radiata Town which Genius had given him that he kept stashed away under his bunk and every item was a precious relic to him.

The tranquillity of the deep woods of the Nowem Region provided the perfect learning environment for the young dark elf. The Forest Metropolis was far too loud, especially as the evening progressed, the stench of Goblin Haven was unbearable, Wind Valley had a reputation for blowing his book past many pages and in the City of Flowers, not very many of the citizens would take kindly to his reading material.

"I don't think Lord Zane would like that..." A voice startled the boy. Mikey twisted his torso and craned his neck to see Coco leaning against the tree he was sitting against.

"He must get tired of hating everything." Mikey turned back around, focusing his attention back to where it mattered, "And you must get tired of coming all the way from the fort to spy on me."

"It's not that far. Besides, I don't mind it." Coco walked around the front, his hands behind his back.

"Please leave me to myself, Coco." Mikey kept his eyes on the page.

"I think you need to get your head out of the clouds and remember what you really are and that's an elf; not one of those filthy humans." Coco meekly stared down at the ground.

"You don't really believe that. We both know it. You're just parroting what Lord Zane's been saying." Mikey peered up from his book, making full eye contact with his fellow dark elf despite the boy not reciprocating.

No response came from Coco's lips. He merely continued to shyly stare down at the fallen leaves. He had already run out of lines the light elf lord had fed him. Mikey released a sigh, closing his book as he stood up to get eye-level with his kin.

"Listen…" he spoke with a soft voice, "I know that…ever since Lord Nogueira's death you've really felt attached to Lord Zane. I know he reminds you of him but…you can't listen to everything he says. He may have wisdom and experience but that doesn't mean he's always right. For instance, he's not right that humans are all terrible."

"But they are! They destroy the balance of the cosmos and spread the algandars disease that killed his brother!" Coco asserted, raising his voice as he shot a gaze at Mikey. "They even killed Lord Cepheid! I saw it with my own eyes! I saw them slice off his head! If that doesn't make them cruel monsters, I don't know what does!"

Mikey closed his eyes, "Humans are not infallible, I know, and what those knights did to our guardian is terrible and inexcusable. But the total extinction of humanity is disproportionate retribution and it's not gonna solve anything."

"But what about algandars? If the humans are gone, Lord Zane says the plague will be, too."

"I don't know if I believe that. I don't want to believe it. I feel like…all this hate may be what's making the plague worse…I still don't know everything about it so I could be wrong…but I wanna believe that there's a way for humans and elves to conquer the plague together! Both humans and elves has their vices and their virtues, so they must both be equally at fault for the plague in some way…and if that's true…then that means that we're both equally capable of conquering it. I understand Lord Zane can make some good points but…" Mikey hugged his book against his chest, his voice shaking, "…I think…if you opened up your mind and listened to what the humans have to say in addition to what Lord Zane has told you, you can come to your own conclusions and act on your own accord."

Coco's gaze left Mikey's and followed a falling leaf. Mikey began to lower himself back into a seated position until the young boy cooed, "Mikey…"

"Yes, Coco?"

"…Do you mind if I…borrow one of your books sometime?"


End file.
